


Hello Darkness

by Brooklyn_Hela_Jackson



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Hurt Tony Stark, Other, Random Song Challenge, The Sound of Silence, Tony Has Issues, Tony Stark Angst, Tony Stark Needs a Hug, Tony-centric
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-28
Updated: 2017-08-28
Packaged: 2018-12-20 21:53:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,457
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11930034
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Brooklyn_Hela_Jackson/pseuds/Brooklyn_Hela_Jackson
Summary: Tony is having a bad, drunk, night.





	Hello Darkness

**Author's Note:**

> Warnings: Angst, drinking, language. 
> 
> This was for a Song challenge on Tumblr. I have made some edits from the version posted there. It is the first piece I have posted on line for a very long time. The song I used as inspiration was Disturbed's cover of The Sound of Silence. This is set between CA:CW and Thor:Ragnarok, closer to Ragnarok.

The ice rattled as he brought the glass to his lips. A storm was brewing and he wondered if the kid had been smart and left the crime fighting to the paid professionals for a night, probably not though. He let his forehead fall against the cool glass of the penthouse balcony with a soft thud. With his free hand he checked the pair of cell phones he carried. His eyes could barely focus as he wished one of the phones would ring while the other would remain forever silent.  
Pepper was never coming back. Tony knew this and no amount of wishful thinking or dreaming would fix what was wrong. Like that Peter kid, he was too stubborn not to try and help the world. He also knew that that was why that fucker Rogers had sent him that stupid phone. He expected Tony to just answer it and act like everything was alright, knowing that, if the world needed him, he was there, not that anyone had ever asked him. He had been there since he had first uttered those famous words.

“I am Iron Man.”

He felt himself repeating them under his breath. How could he have known that his world would come crashing down around him in eight short years. Only four years ago, good ole “Reindeer Games” had opened a portal to Space Hell over the very roof he now drank alone under.

“I got a nuke comin’ in. It’s gonna blow in less than a minute, and I know just where to put it.” The info on his HUD counted down the time and distance he had left.  
“Stark, you know that’s a one way trip?” Cap’s voice crackled over the coms.   
“Save the rest for the turn, J.”  
Predicting his thoughts as he always had, JARVIS simply asked, “Shall I try Ms. Potts?”  
“Might as well.”

She never picked up. Tony had flown into space, to what he and everyone else had assumed would be his death, without getting to say goodbye. The silence that followed JARVIS going off line had been terrible.   
Then he went and turned his ever reliable AI into an android to combat the murder-bot he had accidentally built in the pursuit of ‘Peace in our time.” And to end this damned mission to save the world.  
Tony poured another scotch. They barely survived that one. Pepper had been distant since the whole Mandarin/Extremis incident but Ultron had pushed her to the end of her rope. Now she was running his father’s company and he was nothing more than a figurehead.  
Then the Accords and fucking Rogers being an idiot. They needed rules. It was to keep everyone safe. Why couldn’t he see that? No, instead he decided to run and try to protect his buddy Barnes. The Goddamned Soldier had killed his parents. Yeah, the fucker had been brainwashed. He’d seen that side of him, but it didn’t matter. Tony couldn’t decide if the fear and understanding in the Soldier’s eyes was worse than the rage and frustration in Loki’s eyes as he pitched Tony out of that window.

Suddenly he was falling towards the pavement and his suit wasn’t responding. He was yelling for J to say something but getting only silence in return. Ultron-bots and Chitauri were killing people everywhere he looked. The Avengers were all dead, he was sure of that. All dead except Steve and that fucking Soldier. They waited below to murder him with his own missles, if he survived the fall. He was spared either of those fates when one of the Leviathans came out of nowhere and swallowed him.

A bright flash of lighting shocked him back to reality. For a moment he stood at the mouth of an alley, under a streetlight, as his drunken mind reeled. It was raining and he was outside. Realizing he might be recognized he began to walk forward, not caring where he ended up.   
Turning a corner, he adjusted the collar of his jacket. Unnoticed Tony Stark began to cross Time Square. Everything was so loud. Light and noise came from every direction. Yet nobody seemed to notice anything. Iron Man was walking amongst them and no one saw him. He couldn’t focus on any one thing, so he began to pick up on bits of everything.

A busker was playing something by Simon and Garfunkle that he barely recognized, an ad for toothpaste promising to make you hotter.  
“Wow. Did you hear…”  
“Hotdogs here. Get your…”  
“When did that…”

Horns blared and thunder rumbled. Tony looked up and saw news alerts on the tickers that ran along the buildings.

“And then he said…”  
He started to move through the crowds.  
“God. She’s such a …” One girl complained to another.  
“Man, I can’t believe…”  
“Since when did…”  
“Your father.” A man in all black hissed as he stopped to turn and face the man behind him. Tony almost slammed into him but side stepped in time.  
“Where are the Avengers now?” One gigantic newscaster asked. Where they asking for help?

Why couldn’t the stop killing each other. Even the Avengers had fought amongst themselves. It was like humans wanted to be the reason that they went extinct. They knew they weren’t alone in the universe, yet things like race, creed and sexuality still pissed people off to the point of murder.  
Tony feared to think it but, had his murder-bot, had Ultron been right? Were all the AI villains in books and movies right? Was the only way to save the world, to remove humans from the picture? Did they need to be neutralized or killed to bring about peace? The thought broke his heart.   
Fuck, there were all only human. Well, except Thor who was Asgardian and Vision who was… whatever he was. Every time they had saved the world someone or something new tried to ruin everything.  
He wanted to scream. “Don’t you all realize what’s out there? Fools! Petty idiots! There are worse things than these stupid disagreements. You expect us to save you, to solve all your arguments for you. We can’t save you from yourselves. We aren’t Gods.” But he said nothing knowing he would go unheard.

He could feel his fear clawing at his insides. It was like a cancer and Tony thought it might kill him eventually. As he leaned against a wall he watched a group of people swarm a group of men dressed as himself, Steve, Thor, Rhodey, Bruce, Sam and even Clint. They pushed and shoved as though they might be meeting the real people behind those masks, instead of fakers charging for photos. Tony couldn’t help but compare them to over-zealous parishioners worshiping their false gods.   
Shaking his head Tony looked up at the tower they had all once called home. That iconic A shining blue against the dark rain clouds. He watched the lights of it flicked as lightning flashed. It was probably nothing but a bit of interference cause by lightning striking the tower, but it felt ominous.

Turning his back on the throngs of fools and their noise, he began to wonder again. Soon Tony found himself descending a flight of stairs into a subway station.   
It was clearly abandoned. Compared to the cacophony a few blocks away it was completely silent here. Not a sound, except the rain echoing along the tunnel. 

Tony stepped in front of a graffiti covered wall. In large block letter someone had written, “THANK YOU AVENGERS.” Surrounding this were messages of thanks and praise dating all the way back to that first battle in the skies of Manhattan. As he read his hand stopped next to one that simply said "Iron Man saved my life." With the initials P.P. next to it. His breath caught in his throat. With all of the kind words and encouragements, Tony was overcome with emotion. They had done so much good, saved so many lives. Yet they had failed to save them all but it was clear that the Accords weren’t saving them either.  
‘I just want to do whats right.” Tony slumped to his knees and slammed his fist against the painted cement wall. “I hate him but…” His voice echoed through the tunnel even though he whispered. “But I’ll still be there, to save the world, if they call. I have to try and save every possible life. I can’t let someone die because I was too scared that they might die being saved. I will be there, when I need to be.”

“The words of the prophets are written on the subway wall, and tenement halls, and whispered in the sound of silence.” – The Sound of Silence, Simon and Garfunkle.

**Author's Note:**

> Please let me know what you think of this. I will try to respond if you comment but I do lead a busy life. So sorry in advance.  
> Also read this again and pay attention to the details in the background. I had a bit of fun trying to tie this in without being to obvious.   
> My Tumblr is kaleenjackson if you want to follow me there.


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